Once Again
by RaishaV
Summary: Clockwork has given Dan Phantom a second chance at life with the help of a special gemstone that would return his mortality and leave him powerless. Valerie is confident that Phantom is gone for good, but will she end up meeting him again?
1. Chapter 1

[Danny Phantom is not owned by me, but by its respective creator, Butch Hartman, blah blah blah copyright blah blah.]

I hope you enjoy~ :) This is my first time ever publishing on Fanfiction, and I'm a hella confused right now as to where stuff goes.

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><p>"<em>You're going to give him a second chance?" <em>boomed a thunderous voice.

"_This is __**madness**__ Clockwork. Nothing but sheer madness… as observers, we CANNOT just stand around and let you do this!"_

"_But Gentlemen, as I've said before, it is merely your job TO observe. My plans will turn out well in the long run, because keeping him locked outside of time, seems to have made things in the future.. Well, his future, unstable."_

The ghosts were silenced. They watched Clockwork as he levitated upwards and onto a rock formation that floated silently in the hazy green purgatory that was known as the ghost zone.

"_How will you ensure that he doesn't start another rampage? Rip a hole in our dimension? A monster like him will not stop until existence itself has come to an end!" _The panicked ghost shouted up at the Time Guardian.

"_That's easy, and it's also the reason I've brought you here." _Clockwork smiled as he pressed his staff against a small opening in the rock.

The rock began to glow as several small cracks began to form and the rock formation slowly began to disintegrate.

Where once a rock had been, now stood a pedestal with an embroidered pillow atop of it, and on top of that pillow, lay a beautiful gemstone that shimmered brightly. Each and every color of the rainbow had been stuffed into that one tiny little stone, and with each wave of light it emitted, the air around them would pulse, grow warm, and then get cool again.

Warmth was something that did not exist in the hollow ghost zone, everything was dead or inanimate, no life…no warmth, only the ghosts that wandered around the afterlife provided any form of movement to the realm.

"_It cannot be…" _The first observer's eye widened as he took in what now laid before him.

"_That artifact was only rumored to exist…" _The second observer quietly whispered.

"_That's right boys… It is the fabled Humanity Crystal." _Clockwork was not facing the two Observers, but it was obvious that he was smiling.

"_Without ghostly powers… one cannot do ghostly damage."_ Clockwork mused as he changed from his adult appearance to that of an old man.

"_A lot of ghosts might see that as a threat..." _

"_I agree! a tool like that must not fall into the wrong hands!"_

"_And those ghosts might also see it as a ray of hope… a hope to escape this ghostly wasteland… or in Daniel's case…" _Clockwork picked up the gem and held it above his head to get a good look.

"_A second chance." _Clockworklifted his staff as he vanished with a puff of ghostly smoke.

The two observers stood, with horrified expressions on their eyeball-like faces.

"_I hope he knows what he's doing."_

"_If he doesn't, then who is he and what did he do with the real Clockwork."_

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><p>Valerie woke up later that day, she was in a daze. The last she remembered was Danny's smiling face looking down at her after he rescued her from certain death. She wasn't sure if it was all a dream. Phantom had been terrorizing them for 10 years… and once they had been able to build a defense against him, he managed to tear it down, just like everything else in the wasteland city.<p>

Rubbing her eyes, Valerie stood up, and took in her surroundings. There wasn't as much damage as she thought there would be. Off in the distance, a few buildings were still intact.

"_Did… did Danny stop Phantom?"_ Valerie questioned out loud to herself as she began to climb over a heaping pile of rubble. She could see the remains of the nasty burger off in the distance.

There were no signs of Phantom, or Sam, Tucker, or Danny. She looked down at her wrist and saw that her communicator was damaged beyond repair. There was no way of contacting anyone.

"_Was it a dream… did I really see them…?"_ She walked towards the same area where they first appeared. She blinked for a second as she glimpsed two shining medallions lying on the ground next to what used to be the Nasty Burger.

"_They were wearing these…"_ she said as she picked them up and stared at them.

Alright… so it wasn't a dream, Sam and Tucker were really here! When they took these off, they must have escaped to their own time!

"_Thank goodness they're safe_." She sighed with relief

"_I got to find Dad. DAD! Did he manage to get away…? Oh no, I hope he's not…_" She was too wrapped up in stopping Phantom to even think about her own father. She tried to swallow her guilt but it simply lingered there as a knot in her throat. She could feel tears welling in her eyes as she began to search for her jet sled.

"_Daddy… I hope you're still alive."_ She choked a sob as she sifted through rubble and debris for her signature mean of transportation.

"_When I return to the city, you're going to be the first one that I find_."

She lifted another rock when she saw a large shining metal plate, similar to that of her jet sled, but gasped when she saw that it was only half of it. It must have been destroyed when Phantom knocked her off of it.

She cursed under her breath and looked back towards the buildings that were still in tact.

"_Guess I'm going to have to walk the whole way…" _She stood up, dusted herself off as she began to walk in the direction of civilization.

She sighed as she scouted the damage that Phantom had inflicted upon them… devastated homes, over-turned tanks, bodies buried beneath the rubble. She couldn't help but think of her father. She didn't even think to help him after Phantom had destroyed Fenton Works. She managed to escape because she was in hot pursuit of _him, _the monster that was to blame for all of the misery around her.

"_Monster…" _Valerie whispered. Flashes of the past began to run through her mind as she recalled the kind hearted boy that that monster used to be.

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><p>"<em>Hey! Valerie… wait up!" Danny yelled as he rushed up from behind her. <em>

"_You left your backpack in the lunch room." _He handed her the backpack. In the backpack was the same ghost hunting gear that she had tried to waste him with.

He gave her that longing sideways puppy dog smile. The same smile that she never thought could possibly turn into a sadistic death bringing smirk.

She had found out his secret after his death. Vlad Masters called her and told her everything, about the ghost, about the gear, about the surgery with the gauntlets, about the monster he created, and how the monster had wasted Danny's human half. He left out the gruesome details but said that he had gone quick… an explosion incinerated him instantly. There was no body.

At first though, she didn't believe him. It was inconceivable to believe that her Danny was the ghost boy that she solely loathed, the ghost boy that had destroyed her social life, the very ghost boy that drove her to hunt ghosts in the first place. The cheeseheads crackpot story sounded even sketchier over the phone, and of course, she didn't believe him, at least until Danny returned to Amity Park.

There was a light tapping on her window. Valerie had been asleep in her bedroom when she heard the noise. Quickly tossing the covers off of her, she got out of bed to investigate the noise, her ecto-gun loaded and ready.

Her heart almost stopped when she had seen the boy she liked, standing outside her window, or rather…floating.

"_Danny? Is that you?" _She didn't even think about the fact he was levitating. Only that he had finally returned from Wisconsin after his emotional breakdown.

It had been two days after the explosion when Danny finally gave up on his life and skipped town. He sobbed and kept mumbling and shouting things about how he could have stopped it, and how he was stupid for ever cheating on that C.A.T exam, and how everything would have been better if he was dead, so his family and friends would still be alive. She had tried to stop him from leaving, but he was just too torn up about everything,talking to him only made it worse. Seeing him there at that moment though, gave her a new hope, hope that he had returned to seek comfort and reassurance from her.

"_Oh my god! Danny! You're back!" _She yelled as she lifted her window open.

"_Are you alright? I've been worried sick! After your family and Sam and Tucker, a..at the nasty burger and the explosion.. I thought something horrible had happened to you too! You never returned my calls...! Oh Danny, I'm so glad you're okay." _

Danny merely floated there, not saying anything.

"_Come inside, It is freezing outside." _It was late December, only a week before Christmas and there was snow, all around Amity Park.

Though, the thought never crossed her mind that there was something off about him. His hair, for instance, was a ghostly white and his skin, was considerably paler.

Valerie wrapped her arms around him, embracing him as tears of joy and relief began to fall from her face. He was freezing to the touch.

"_D..Danny.. you're so cold!" _She released him and stepped back, her gaze trailing towards his face.

A pair of glowing red eyes met hers.

She'll never forget those eyes. Those, lifeless, red, eyes, and the look on his face. A look that which a wolf would give its prey before slaughtering it, tearing it apart limb from limb and devouring it.

"_Hello Valerie… It's good to see you again." _He glared down at her.

"_Though I think I'd much rather see you __**dead**__." _His hands began to glow a brilliant ecto-green as he grabbed hold of her. She could feel electricity shooting through her body as he zapped her. She toppled over and hit the floor, her body twitching as maniacal laughter echoed throughout her room.

"_Vlad… he was right… you really are a-!" _Valerie gasped

"_Ghost..?" _He finished her sentence for her_. "Why yes. I'm surprised you didn't find out sooner… it was only obvious. Danny Phantom, Danny Fenton? Come now, Valerie. Are you really that __**naïve**__? All of those times that Danny Phantom appeared, Danny Fenton had always managed to make a convenient get-away before hand, despite Sam and Tucker always being around, But… we won't be seeing them around much anymore now __**will we**__?" _He spat, glaring at her as she lay on the floor helplessly paralyzed.

"_You're not Danny… What happened to Danny! The real Danny! You're a fake, an imposter! The real Danny would never try to hurt me or anyone!" _Even when he was Danny Phantom, he always tried his best to avoid hurting her despite all of the times she had tried to literally _**waste**_ him and now she was regretting it, because compared to this evil Danny, Danny Phantom was almost an angel to her at that moment.

"_I'm not Danny, not anymore. Vlad removed that weakness from my body some time ago… and it's definitely an __**improvement**__." _He smirked and began to laugh again, his forked tongue twitching with laughter.

She got a good look at Danny when he stood behind the light. His hair.. it wasn't white. It was on fire! and his skin had a greenish blue tint to it.

_"So Vlad Masters wasn't lying when he told me about you…" _Valerie grimaced as the electricity began to surge through her body once again.

She began to scream, hoping maybe someone would hear her and come to her rescue.

"_Another good thing about being rid of my weaker half is that it has purged me of a weakness that has long kept me from doing __**THIS**__!"_ He yanked her up by the collar of her pajama shirt with one hand, as he brought his other fist inches from her face.

It began to glow green again. She gritted her teeth and looked away as she waited for it to all be over. She would be soon joining Danny's family, Sam, Tucker, and the real Danny himself in the afterlife.

"_Goodbye Valerie_."

"_VALERIE!_" Damon shouted as he shoved the door open. He was wielding an ecto gun. He fired it at the imposter.

Phantom was caught by surprise as the beam of energy shot him; he dropped Valerie as he fell back gasping and screaming in agony as the blast sent a surge of ecto-electricity throughout his body.

"_Daddy!_" she gasped as she managed to pull herself off of the floor.

The startled Phantom looked towards the source of the blast.

"_You'll pay for that old man. You and your daughter will pay with your sorry __**lives**__!" _Phantom began to charge another ecto blast from his palms, only to find that his powers were shorted out by Damon's gun.

"_YOU __**FOOLS**__! YOU HAVE JUST SEALED YOUR FATE! YOU JUST WAIT_!" He screamed as he dashed towards the window. He flung himself out and flew away, he would definitely be back, and he would be after blood. Her blood.

"_Daddy…"_ Valerie choked.

"_Its okay sweetie, He's gone now."_ He wrapped his arms around his daughter reassuringly.

"_You don't have to worry about him anymore_." Damon said quietly as he stared down at his gun.

Oh, how Valerie wished that were true. The worst was yet to come, for the next 10 years; Phantom would be terrorizing not only them, but every living person in Amity Park.

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><p>Valerie took a deep breath; her fists were clenched tight around the time medallions that Sam and Tucker had been wearing. She would keep them as proof that what she saw wasn't a dream and proof that she wasn't going crazy with guilt and grief, and that they had managed to stop Phantom from doing more damage throughout the city. She was just hoping that they got away alive.<p>

"_The towers…_" she mumbled to herself as she climbed into a pile of rubble to get a good look of what was left of her hard work.

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><p>She had almost finished her routinely shield check when she had gotten in touch with her father.<p>

"_Ghost shield tower 9, 100% operational_." She told her father into the communicator.

"_Great sweetie, check the last tower and get back_—" it cut off as her fathers face vanished from the screen, only to be replaced my a familiar set of ruthless red eyes.

"_Hello Valerie."_

"_You Again? I don't care how powerful you are ghost! you can't break through the shield."_ Valerie shouted into the communicator.

"_Until today…_" She could hear the smile in his voice.

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><p>"<em>All 34 of them, destroyed.<em>" She tried not to think about what caused it. That noise, that ghostly noise, pitched at such a high frequency that not even the shield itself was able to withstand.

"_5 years of research, and hard work, gone…" _Valerie recalled how he simply wiped them out, as easy as blowing the candles out on a birthday cake.

"_I have to get in touch with someone. The mayor, the city council members, we have to start rebuilding as soon as possible. This time, we'll make the ghost shields twice as a strong, and if that monster ever does come back.. We'll be ready."_ She clenched her fists even tighter and took a deep breath as she continued her journey on foot to what still remained of downtown Amity Park.

She never realized how big of an area Amity Park consumed. She was so used to flying around on her jet sled, walking was never really necessary for long distances.

"…_…." _

Valerie stopped. She had sworn she had heard someone.

"_he..hello?"_ She called out, hoping she could get a better idea as to the direction the sound had come from.

"…_help…me… mommy..."_

Valerie heard a voice from beneath the destroyed foundation of what used to be a church.

Raising her eyebrow, Valerie began to move towards the noise, sifting through debris and pushing them aside. She stopped when she saw the arm of a child sticking between several pieces of fallen wood.

Valerie gasped as she hastily began to throw the wood posts over to the side. The child appeared to be a little boy with blonde hair and severely bruised skin.

"_MOMMY!_" The boy choked and sobbed. He was badly injured and mangled in an awkward position. She couldn't imagine how long he must have been stuck there.

"_WHERE IS MY MOMMY!_" The child was panic struck.

"Calm _down sweetie, everythings going to be all right_." She leaned down and picked the child up. He couldn't have been more than 6 years old.

She placed her hand on his head and stroked it gingerly.

"_We'll get you to safety. Don't worry… Sweetie, can you tell me your name?"_

"_Eliott_." He choked between cries.

"_Alright Eliott, my name is Valerie. I'm here to rescue you. You're hurt and you need to be taken to a hospital."_ She looked around, hoping that the hospital too, wasn't destroyed.

"_Damn... I wish I had a ride…"_ she thought to herself. It isn't going to be easy climbing over heaps of rubble, let alone heaps of rubble with a child in your arms.

"_VALERIE!_" She heard a voice calling down at her.

Valerie looked up, shielding the glare from the sun with her arm. She looked up to see a familiar high school face looking down at her.

"_Paulina?_" She called back up.

Paulina was in the passenger seat of a hover vehicle.

"_You're alive! I'm so relieved! Hey! Kwon, land this thing will you?_" The man in the drivers' seat nodded. The vehicle slowly began to descend until it touched the ground.

Paulina had matured quite well over the past 10 years. She had stayed pretty close to Valerie and the two of them had remained best friends for as long as she could remember. Her long black hair was tied back into a pony tail. She was very beautiful, and now she was married with a little one on the way.

Valerie's gaze fell to the little bump on Paulina's stomach.

"_You wouldn't answer our calls, and we were worried about you, so Kwon and I decided to come back and find you."_

"_We were going to skip town. We didn't want anything happening that would endanger our unborn child, but once we heard that Phantom simply vanished, we thought it would be the perfect time to get you and get the hell out of here_." Kwon explained as he adjusted his glasses.

Kwon was always one of the jock guys back in high school. He played Defense on the Casper High foot ball team, but he always had a good eye for science and mathematics. When he got into college he had started building a foundation around a medical career, and now he was a Medicine Doctor.

Valerie had inspired Paulina to become a ghost hunter. After hearing about what Phantom did to Danny and the rest of the city 10 years ago, she had sworn to defend against the horrible things that he did and will do, but because of her pregnancy, Paulina would have to take a long break before she could hunt ghosts again.

The Latina smiled at her, but her gaze quickly fell to the child that Valerie was holding.

"_Speaking of child-OH MY GOODNESS!_" She hopped out of the vehicle and rushed over to Valerie, Kwon quickly following behind her.

"What happened to the little guy?" Paulina asked, as she pressed her hand against his forehead.

"_Paulina, not so loud! He's scared. He's lost his mother, and running around flailing your arms like a mad-woman is only going to scare him even more." _Valerie held the child close to her.

Kwon leaned down and looked at the child and then at Valerie. "_Let me see him. I think I can help." _

Valerie nodded and passed the child over to the doctor.

Kwon settled him onto the hood of the hover-car so he could examine him.

"_What's your name little guy_?" Kwon asked, a hint of kindness in his voice that always came to him when dealing with pediatric patients.

"_..Eliott."_ he sniffled softly, his big blue eyes looking up at Kwon nervously.

"_Well, Eliott. Can you tell me where you are hurt_?" Kwon asked.

Paulina smiled as she and Valerie watched.

"_He's very good with kids."_ She whispered, and Valerie nodded in agreement.

Eliott pointed to his wrist and then to his shoulder.

"_It hurts really badly when I move my hand..._"

Kwon took his hand and gently began to move it until Eliott whimpered in pain.

"_I see. Well.. other than a sprained wrist, and some bruises, I'd say you're in tip top shape Eliott. You got lucky… and you were very lucky to have been found by Miss Valerie over there."_

Eliott smiled and nodded.

"_T..thank you ma'am_…"

Valerie blushed. "_It was nothing.. I was just doing my job_."

"_Do you have any family_? _Anyone we can take you to?"_ Paulina asked as she began to climb into the passenger seat of the car. "_We can take you somewhere safe until we can get a hold of your parents._"

"_You can find my mommy?"_ He jumped off the hood of the car and ran to the door of the passenger side where Paulina was.

"_Thank you ma'am! Thank you so much!_" he shouted at her with a hopeful smile.

'_Let's just hope your folks are even alive kid._' Valerie thought to herself as she climbed into the backseat of the car. The kid would be pretty torn up if he found out that his parents were still buried underneath that fallen church.

Kwon lifted the child into the backseat and Valerie helped buckle him in.

"_Make sure he doesn't move his arm alright_?" Kwon said as he circled the car, opened up the drivers' side door and got in. He slipped the key back into the ignition and the vehicle roared back to life as it began to ascend into the sky.

The vehicle started moving towards the downtown area where most of the buildings still remained intact.

Hopefully they could get some help, and figure out what exactly was going on.

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><p>"<em>It's time." <em>Clockwork said as he removed the thermos from its place on the shelf.

Clockwork observed the device, and then looked at the crystal that he held in his other hand.

He unscrewed the lid to the Fenton Thermos, and allowed its ghostly contents to spill out.

The ecto-plasmic material began to take the form of a man.

There he stood, Dan Phantom, in the ghostly flesh.

"_Clockwork… so good of you to finally release me…_" his cold voice echoed throughout the time keepers' chamber.

"_Was the thermos not to your liking, Phantom?"_ Clockwork asked as he held the jewel in one hand, his staff in the other. The unsuspecting Phantom, completely unaware of Clockworks plans.

"_I don't know… Why don't we shove you in there and you can find out YOURSELF!" _Phantom was ready to lunge at him when Clockwork held up his staff.

"_Time, OUT_." Clockwork stopped time, leaving Phantom frozen with an angry contorted face.

"_I thought you would have learned already… this is my home playing field… I can control time, with the simple click of a button."_ Clockwork said, as he transformed into his child persona.

"_I control everything here. I dictate the flow of __**time**__; I choose __**what**__ happens, __**how**__ it happens, and__** when**__ it happens."_ Clockwork held out the Humanity Crystal. The crystal began to pulsate and glow.

"You see Daniel. Time is a lot like a film strip. If you cut an important piece out, it will skip, and continue to play at that spot over and over and over again. It's a lot like puzzle. It just needs the missing **piece**."

Clockwork moved towards Phantom, his hand becoming intangible with the crystal inside of it. Clockwork glanced at the crystal and then to Phantoms chest.  
>He phased the crystal deep into Phantoms chest cavity, leaving it there as his hand phased back out.<p>

The pulsating began to grow even stronger as the heat from the crystal consumed Phantoms entire body.

_Bbbdmp. Bddump. Badump… _

The sound of a heart beat echoed throughout the deathly silent time chamber.

"_Time in_!" Clockwork hit the button on his staff, causing time to flow once again.

Phantom gasped, and screamed as he toppled over onto the ground, clutching his chest.

"What..! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!" He screamed as he continued to clutch his heart.

His appearance began to change. His flaming white hair turned into jet black hair that had grown well past his shoulders. His ghostly jump suit vanished from his body revealing a white t-shirt and jeans that had appeared to be several sizes too small for him.

"_I just gave you mortality… and like all mortals, you don't belong here in the ghost zone." _Clockwork answered quietly.

"_You.. __**what**__?_!" Phantom choked as he continued to writhe in agony.

"_You heard me… and as a bit of advice… I'd stay away from Valerie if I were you. I may have spared your life, but I highly doubt that she will_." Clockwork smirked, and with a snap of his finger, Phantom was transported to his own time.

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><p>This is it! The first chapter of my story. This is a continuation of 'The Ultimate Enemy' Obviously. Leave reviews and I shall kiss you. x3 Also, I would love some ideas for plots and what not. This story is still new and if everyone can give me ideas as to which direction I should go in, that would be uber awesome~<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Dan was thrown like a ragdoll through Clockworks time portal, he didn't even have time to react to the situation, only that now he could feel himself falling through air, the wind breaking at full force against the front of his body as he plummeted from 20 feet in the air and face planted into solid ground.

Groaning, he simply laid there. He was in too much pain to try and force himself up.

"_Ugh… I forgot how much it sucked being human."_

He grunted as he attempted to push himself up once again. His arms buckled beneath him and his face met dirt once again.

"_What… is your reasoning for this Clockwork...?"_ Dan spat into the dirt, and with what little strength he had, turned himself into his back.

"_Leaving me to die here as a mortal will only return me to the ghost zone…"_ He mumbled.

Dan was too physically exhausted to think of Clockworks motives. Being a human took a lot out of you, and falling from 20 feet in the air and landing face first didn't necessarily help at all.

"_SHITTTTT!" _

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><p>Valerie held Eliott's hand as they sped through the skies to their destination.<p>

One of the hospitals was still in commission but it was over crowded beyond words.

"_Well, we can rule that out."_ Paulina mumbled.

Kwan stared ahead for a long moment, as if contemplating something. He sighed as he looked over towards his wife, taking her hand and caressing it gingerly.

"_No. They need me there. I'm going to drop you three off at Valerie's apartment. From the looks of things, the complex still seems to be standing. I'm going to go help out the best I can at the hospital. You guys need to stay inside while things are still chaotic." _Kwan turned in the direction of the 38 story building.

"_Are you sure?"_ Paulina asked hesitantly.

Kwan nodded. "_Yeah, everything will be okay sweetie. Don't worry_."

Valerie simply stared ahead, quietly, not even realizing that Eliott was looking at her. His grasp on her hand tightened just a little.

She was deep in thought when she came to the realization that her old Jet Sled was still at her apartment.

She almost jumped out of her seat but stopped when she realized they were 50 feet in the air.

"_Hurry up and land this contraption, Kwan_." Valerie shouted.

Once she got her sled, she would use it to get to Fenton Works, and there she would check if her father was still alive. If not, she would ensure he was given a proper burial.

After landing and dropping them off, Kwan took off in the direction of the hospital.

Valerie led them through the lobby of the complex to the elevators. They took the elevator up to the 32nd floor where her apartment had been. The whole complex was deserted. People had probably fled to the underground bunkers, leaving their homes and belongings behind. Sliding the keycard through the scanner, she pushed the door open and entered the room, Paulina following behind, holding Eliott close to her.

The room smelled musty and unused.

"_You'll have to excuse the mess…_" Valerie blushed as she picked up some dishes, throwing them into the sink quickly.

"_It's been a while since I've been able to clean up_." She almost tripped over one of her unusually large hunting guns.

"_Ah!_" She caught herself on the edge of the kitchen counter.

Paulina tried not to giggle as she made her way over to the sofa, Eliott following closely behind her. Taking a seat, Paulina grabbed the remote and turned the television on. Static. The transmitting tower must have been destroyed by the ghostly wail as well.

"_I really do hope that Phantom is truly gone from this earth._" Paulina whispered as she looked down at her tummy and then to Eliott.

"_Our children need a world without that monster_..."

Valerie slipped into her room, peeling the tattered and ripped red latex suit off of her body. Phantom had done a number on her in that last battle and she thought best that she'd clean up before she went back out.

She stood in front of the mirror and stared long at her bruised body. There were cuts, scrapes, and scars from all of the battles that she had lived through, and each one marked her as a reminder of every ghost she had slain. They were almost like trophies in her eyes.

As she stood there, in her underwear, she couldn't help but think of a time where she had actually thought of herself as attractive. She had developed nicely as most would say, and she had a small collective of men that would have given everything for a date, but it didn't feel right for her, and they had no idea of the life that she led. She didn't feel like she could truly live a normal woman's life. The scars that had dotted themselves along her milky brown skin would always sit as a reminder of her career of ghost hunting and what she was destined to live with. She never wanted to explain why those scars were there, not even to the man that would be the first to remove her clothes.

* * *

><p><em>10 years earlier…<em>

"_Valerie! Get up! We have to leave! The city is under attack_!" Her father shook her awake.

"_Daddy…? What's going on? What are you talking about_?" She asked, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

The numbers 3:42 AM on her alarm were only a foggy red blur to her.

"_Wh..wha? Under attack?"_ Her eyes shot open as she jumped from her bed and rushed to the window. What she saw struck sheer horror in her eyes. The city was in flames.  
>It didn't take her long to pinpoint the center of where the destruction was coming from. His laughter echoing through the skies was enough of an answer for her.<p>

"_Dad! I have to stop him!_" She rushed to her closet to retrieve her backpack.

"_Valerie. I can't let you do this_." Damon grabbed her by the arms.

"_But Dad! Only I can do this.. Danny Phantom is __**gone**__. I'm the only hope this city has and I can't just let that __**monster**__ destroy everything!"_

Damon shook his head.

"_No Valerie. This is one ghost I do NOT want you messing with. I've already lost your mother and I'm not going to lose you too!"_ His sad gaze met hers. She looked down and signed.

"… _Oh… okay… dad…_" She would have to get away some how.  
>Reaching over to her nightstand, she grabbed one of the trophies that littered the table. Gritting her teeth, she wailed it against her fathers head with enough force to knock him out, but not enough to hurt him.<p>

"_I'm sorry dad, but.. I have to go!_" She tried to stop herself from crying. She never wanted to hurt her dad, and it pained her to do that to him, but she had no other choice.

Snatching the crimson ghost hunting uniform out of her bag, she slipped it on as she hurried out the door, making sure to grab every weapon she could manage to hold.

"_I should have done this sooner! Who knew, causing so much chaos, death and destruction could be so, exhilarating!_" Phantom shouted. Beams erupted from his hands and leveled a playground to nothing. What used to be their local mall was now nothing more than broken foundation and rubble.

Phantom glared at the death and destruction that he had created. It felt so, right to him.

He knew not, the reasons as to why… only, he didn't want to stop until nothing remained of Amity Park, and perhaps... the whole world.

"_STOP RIGHT THERE!"_

Phantom turned to the direction the voice came from, his face only visible from the light that the flames had emitted.

"_Well, well.. Valerie. Come to play hero once again before you die_?" Phantom smirked.

"_No, I'm here to play checkers, or maybe play a game of charades, except, I don't believe there will be any dying involved."_ Valerie rolled her eyes.

"_You know, I'm not much of a games person anymore nor do I play by the rules._" Phantom flew towards her, and tried to knock her off of her jet sled, but she saw and dodged just in time.

"_Danny, why are you doing this? This isn't you! why are you letting this monster control you!"_ Valerie pleaded desperately.

Deep down, she really didn't want to fight him. She still cared for him, maybe even still loved him.

Danny smirked. "Because_! It just feels __**right**__, Valerie. I have no personal reason for destroying this pathetic city and all the wretches that inhabit it. I have nothing to gain, nor lose by doing so… because quite frankly, I don't care._" He launched another ecto-bomb at her, she dodged it just by an inch.

"_Danny, what would your family and friends think if they saw you doing this? How would they feel?"_ Valerie shouted back at the ghost, hoping that maybe she could at least talk some sense into him.

"_They don't really do much__** thinking**__ or __**feeling**__ anymore, now do they?"_ Phantom spat as he charged towards her once again.

"and neither do I." he caught her by the neck, and lifted her up.

She was caught by the throat when she had tried to dodge him once again.

"_Ugh… You! Let me go!"_ She struggled against him by kicking and thrashing as hard as she could.

No. She wasn't going to die tonight.

Phantom grinned. "_Let you go? Why, that's a very good idea!_" He flew up into the air, the city hundreds of feet below them and held her up by the latex of her jumpsuit.

"_Painting the asphalt in with your blood will be the perfect finishing touch for my masterpiece._" He gestured towards the destroyed city.

"_Wouldn't you agree Valerie?_"

"_Agree with THIS!_" She shouted as she pressed the button on her watch that summoned her Jet Sled.

Before Phantom could react, the sled had crashed into him, causing him to drop Valerie.

"_Gah! You'll pay for that_!" Phantom yelled at her as he began to chase her as she plummeted through the air the sled quickly following behind.

The board caught her as it dove downwards.

Valerie adjusted herself and stood up, trying to gain her footing and balance.

She managed to level herself, and finally gained control of the jet sled once again. She lurched forward, narrowly avoiding Phantoms attack.

Phantom attempted to punch her off of her jet sled, but she quickly saw him and dodged.

"_Stay still_!" Phantom shouted, obviously frustrated.

She narrowed her eyes. He may have been evil… but he was still a teenager. His fighting was very sloppy and uncoordinated,

"_Hey Phantom…_" She was going to regret this, and the thought of kissing a ghost disgusted her.

She stopped in mid air, Phantom was caught by surprise as he slammed into her. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her lips against his cold ghostly ones.

His eyes widened. He pushed her back and flinched in surprise.

"_What are you doing? You human fool! I'm trying to KILL you. Yet you try to use me to satisfy your human hormonal needs?_" If he were human, he would have probably been blushing. Instead, his cheeks flushed a darker shade of blue than that of his skin.

Good. She managed to distract him. Maybe now she could land an attack.

"_But, Danny… I always thought you liked me? Remember?_" She opened her wrist laser and shot him, point blank in the face.

Phantom was caught off guard, thrown back by the blast, he regained his focus and glared at her, his eyes gleaming red with anger.

"_You will pay for that…_" He spat again as he flew towards her, readying an energy blast.

"_Using my past human emotions against me, that reaches an all time new low Valerie._"

Valerie scoffed. "_All time new low? You already reached that when you murdered Danny and started wreaking havoc on Amity Park! You're a filthy horrible ghost! How a sweet boy like Danny could become a monster like you is beyond me!_" She lurched forward and kneed him in the gut.

As her knee met his gut, he turned intangible, causing her to fall right through him. He turned around, grabbing her by the back of her jumpsuit, he once again dangled her above the ruined city and she watched as her jet sled fell helplessly to the ground, and this time, it wouldn't be able to save her from the fall.

"_So.. this is it then..?" _She whispered to herself.

She was going to die at the hands of the boy she had loved, defending the city that she had called her home.

_No…_

He wasn't the boy she loved. Danny Fenton was dead. All that remained was the ghostly monster which had manifested inside of him

She gritted her teeth, her eyes filling with tears. She watched as they trickled down her face and fell upon the city below.

"_I'm sorry Amity Park… I've... failed you..._"

She felt herself falling through the air, only seeing a flash of white before she had passed out.

"_Am I dead..?_" She thought to herself.

She had been rescued. She'd been rescued by the Guys in White, and her father. They were on motorbikes and she had been caught by one of them.

She was out cold, but she recalled her father explaining to her afterwards that they had managed to thwart Phantom, and send him back into the ghost zone.

Of course, Phantom was a lot weaker back then. Now, the Guys in White wouldn't have stood a chance against his new power. But somehow, his younger self had managed to stop him. She didn't see how it was possible. 10 years of him terrorizing Amity Park, and the ghost zone… He was unstoppable with that ghostly wail. The younger Danny must have found a weakness.

5 years earlier, he had broken out of the ghost zone, but he wasn't strong enough to penetrate the ghost shield that Axion had reverse engineered, using the blue-prints and information found at Fenton Works.

He had spent that five years, scheming, and coming up with a way to break the spectral shield, and he had succeeded. History had repeated itself the day before. Amity Park had once again suffered at the hands of Phantom.

Valerie looked down at the mirror and then sighed. "I have to find out if he is truly gone." She quickly hopped into the shower, rinsing her body of all the dirt, blood and sweat. She quickly cleaned up and changed into another suit, rushing out the door with her jet sled in her arms.

"_I gotta make sure Dad is alive…_" she whispered. She knew Damon. He was good at getting out of tight situations, though; she had a tugging feeling in her heart, that he wasn't able to escape the explosion. If he had managed to escape, he probably would have attempted to contact her, but her communicator had been destroyed by Phantoms wail.

She hopped onto her Jet Sled and shot off through the city towards what was left of the Fenton Works lab.

* * *

><p>"<em>Hey, are you okay?" <em>a female voice asked.

"_I think he's dead…"_ younger sounding male voice chimed in.

"_No, he's breathing Timmy. I don't think dead people breathe."_She laughed.

He gritted his teeth as he felt a sharp poke in his lower abdomen.

"_Wake up! Wake up lazy bones!_" The boy's voice echoed through his ears.

Dan grunted, his eyes shooting open as he looked around, wanting to strangle the source of his discomfort.

"_You insolent little welp! Cut that out!_" He had attempted to create an energy blast with his hand to vaporize the boy to no avail.

'_Dammit…_' he thought to himself. So it was true then. He had been brought to his knees by Clockwork and that… that pulsating gemstone. What had Clockwork done to make him mortal again? First thing was first. He needed to get to the bottom of this.

"_Hey! That's no way to talk to my little brother!_" the young woman walked forward.

"_We could have just left you here to die, but we stopped and tried to offer our assistance._" The boy dropped his stick and removed a cantine from his satchel and offered it to Dan. The boy had messy brown hair and really bad overbite.

Dan looked at the water container, and licked his lips. He hadn't realized how thirsty he was.

He snatched it and chugged it all down in one swig.

"_Hey! Slow down, you'll make yourself sick you know._" The girl approached him.

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"_Who the hell are you supposed to be..?_"  
>"<em>My name is Sam<em>." She frowned slightly at his rudeness

His gaze shot up at her when she had said her name. "_Sam?_" he lowered his eyes.

"_Yeah, It's short for Samara, and that's is my brother, Timmy_." Sam pointed to the younger boy. She, herself, looked to be maybe, 14 or 15 years old. Timmy was perhaps 10.

"_What's your name_?" Sam asked. Dan looked at her strangely.

"_..Dan… yeah… Dan…"_

Despite being siblings, they both looked very different. Timmy's eyes were blue, and his hair was brown, while Sam's eyes were green, and she had a tuft of choppy blonde hair that stopped at the bottom of her neck. Timmy had a pale complexion while Sam looked as if she had spent a lot of time in the sun.

"_What are you brats doing all the way out here..? Shouldn't you be in the city? Hiding from Phantom?_" Dan asked.

"_We're wanderers._" Sam smiled. By the looks of their attire, it didn't appear to him that they were from the city.

"_Yep. We scower the wasteland for buried goods and treasures, and then sell them to people for cash. There's a lot of valuable stuff hidden in this rubble_." Timmy explained.

"_Timmy and I were orphaned 5 years ago. Our parents had gone outside the shield to fight and that Phantom guy murdered them in cold blood_." Sam tried to stop herself from getting angry her nails dug deeply into the palms of her had as she recalled the events.

"_Ugh! He's done nothing but cause misery, pain, and suffering… and because of him, we have to make ends meet by grave robbing_." Sam removed her canteen from her backpack and took a swig of water, wiping her face when she was finished.

"_It's a thankless job… but it's the only choice we got. Me and sis gotta stick together and the only way we can survive is doing.. this…._" Timmy chimed in.

Dan hadn't asked these kids for their life story. Yet he sat there, listening intently and wondering why they were telling him this. He almost felt sorry for the wretched creatures.

Little did they know, HE was the cause of their misery. He was the one that had murdered their parents.

Humans were so foolish.

Still, Dan couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt for all that had happened to them. Was it his humanity? His newly beating heart within his body that was causing him to feel even one speck of remorse for what he had done?

He scoffed.

"_Sorry to hear that kid_." Was all Dan could muster. He had no idea what to say to these kids. '_Sorry bout murdering your folks, thanks for the help though. I'll be on my way~ toodles!._' That would have been awkward… and in his weakened state, he couldn't afford to start a confrontation. If these kids were wasteland dwellers, than they had to be packing some sort of heat and would most likely kill him.

Sam sighed. "_Well.. we __**were **__heading back to the city to trade in some of our loot… until we foundja lyin' here.. are you heading anywhere? Do you have a place to go to?_" She asked.

Dan thought for a moment… He obviously didn't _**have**__ anywhere_ to go. Everyone in the city hated him… but they obviously didn't recognize him in his new human form. Maybe he could start a new life? At least until he figured out how to get his ghostly powers back, and then he could lay ruin to those pathetic fools, once and for all.

Or did Clockwork have other plans for him..?

Dan quietly thought to himself.

He didn't suppose following them to the city would hurt. without his ghost powers, he was just as human as they were. He couldn't fly, or teleport, or even go intangible!

Sam looked over at Dan as he thought to himself. She quirked an eyebrow and waltzed over towards him with her arms folded behind her back.

"_So, what's your story? Why are you all the way out here? Did you get separated from someone?_" Sam asked as she gathered her things and slipped them into her waist satchel.

"_You...__**really**__ don't want to know kid…" _Dan folded his arms as he weakly pulled himself off of the ground, and dusted himself off. He looked down at his clothing. It was what he had been wearing when he died, his old t-shirt and jeans that were way too small for his adult body. He was almost thankful that at 14, he had worn his clothes way too baggy or he'd look absolutely foolish right now. He never took notice of his adult body as a ghost, he was lean and muscular.

'and Dash thought I'd never fill out..' Dan thought to himself, almost laughing.

He got quiet when Samara looked at him funny.

"_Something wrong_?" She raised an eyebrow.

Dan shook his head.

"_No.. uh… just.. thought of something.. that's all._"

She cocked her head to the side and shrugged, returning to the conversation she was having with her brother.

Dan kept to himself as he walked with the kids. They had a lot of ground to cover before they had made it to New Amity.

Timmy and Samara carried about their own merry conversations, Dan only catching bits and pieces.

Dan looked up and noticed that it was starting to get dark, and they still had a long way before the reached the City.

"_You brats know it's dangerous out here.. at night? Don't you…? Bandits.. and coyotes…"_ _and ghosts._

"We hold our own." Samara mumbled quietly, not appreciating being called a 'brat'

Dan had remembered these lands all too well, and any humans foolish enough to venture outside of the ghost shield. If they hadn't met their death in his hands, they would have died from something out here, such as ghost wolves or scavenger bandits.

Dan would also have to be careful. He was weak in his human form. He didn't have ghost senses or powers, so he'd have to keep a sharp eye out for anything suspicious.

"We cannot set up camp here. This is the territory of the Badlands Gang…" Timmy had been holding a map as he looked back at Dan.

"They're ruthless, and cruel.." Samara shook her head. "When I was a child I used to think that Phantom was their leader.. But I was wrong. Phantom was a lot worse, but they are still pretty bad."

"We have to keep moving or we might get spotted."

Dan rolled his eyes. He know about the Badlands Gang, a bunch of ex-ghost hunter thugs gone rogue, that made deals with ghosts in order to make money. Typical human trash.

"_I'm not afraid of them. Let them find us. If they do, I'll lay waste to all of them._" Dan was pretty confident in his abilities even as a human, we could probably knock some heads around.

"_Uh huh… Sure."_ Timmy rolled his eyes as he looked back at Dan.

"_These guys have __**lots**__ of weapons!"_ Sam chimed in.

A loud thunderous roar caught all three of them by surprise. It was growing closer as the earth beneath their feet began to shake.

Dan turned around and glared. 30 thugs on what appeared motorbikes were heading towards them, their dust trails flaring up behind them like a storm of dirt.

Dan glared as they grew closer.

"…_. You two… run. Get out of here… I'll handle them…_" There was no way they could outrun them on foot. Dan was going to buy the kids some time.

He couldn't believe himself. He was actually…**HELPING** these kids.

"_But.. Dan..!_" Sam tried to interrupt. "_You.. can't take them alone!_"

"_Yeah, and I can't take them with you two getting in my way either.. now get lost!_"

"_Dont Do this! They're gonna kill you!_" Sam shouted as Timmy began to grab her shoulders, leading her away.

"You're too weak..." Timmy muttered to him as Sam finally gave up and began to walk with him

It was a bitter reminder… He could almost punch the kid for saying that, but it would probably make his teeth even worse... and that kid couldn't afford it.

"_If he wants to die, let him. Let's go Sam…_" Timmy mumbled as the two made their escape, while Dan, faced the oncoming stampede of motorbikes.

They all came to a screeching halt as Dan stood, boldly in the middle of their trail.

"_Well.. well._." a gruff, beared man with a tooth pick in his mouth examined Dan.

Their leader. "_What have we here?_" Spitting the tooth pick out, he kicked the stand on his bike, and got off.

His army of thugs remained on their bikes and waited as their leader approached Dan.

"_Not much here boys… only some baby boy who can't seem to pick his clothes right._"

* * *

><p>End of Chapter 2<p>

Sorry everyone. I know I had this chapter posted, but for some reason It wasn't finished. When I uploaded it. So.. I went and took the liberty of re-editing it and posting it for your viewing pleasure~ ^^ Enjoy and please leave reviews~ Sorry for the long update time~


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